Guide to the Bible. Go and learn what it means: I want mercy and not sacrifice What does it mean I want mercy and not sacrifice
“I want mercy, not sacrifice.” Jesus here quotes the prophet Hosea, who explained God's covenant to the people this way: “I want mercy rather than sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 5:6). Sacrifice is the most important religious ritual, but much more important is deep, sincere faith and not ostentatious righteousness, the ability to compassion and the desire to help people. God wants people not to blindly obey, but to understand the deep meaning of His instructions and prohibitions.
Jehovah - “God is great and awesome” (Deuteronomy 7:21), but He, according to the prophet Baruch, will still be “to lead Israel with joy with the light of His glory, with mercy and righteousness” (Bar 5:5-9). In praising the Lord, the Psalmist expresses confidence that “mercy and truth will meet, righteousness and peace will kiss each other” (Ps 84:11).
Having come to earth in a different historical era, when the fight against idolatry had largely lost its urgency, Jesus Christ reveals Himself as a meek, humble, merciful God. He does not call for the merciless extermination of external enemies, but focuses on a person’s struggle with his own imperfection. In His mouth, the word “mercy” means mercy, the ability to understand, love and forgive not only neighbors, but also those far away, not only the righteous, but also sinners.
Christ explains: « It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12). “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13) . He denounces the Pharisees and scribes. And to the question of whom a person should consider a neighbor, he answers: the one who “took pity and took care of him” (“The Parable of the Good Samaritan”). And he emphasizes in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful” (Matthew 5:7).
Almsgiving is the most important act of Christian charity, something that will be “credited” to a person at the Last Judgment. “A man’s charity is like a seal, and He will preserve a man’s good deeds like the apple of his eye” (Sirach 17:18). But it should be done from the heart, and not for show: “Be careful not to do your alms in front of people so that they can see you; otherwise there will be no reward for you from the Heavenly Father. So, when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them... But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. So that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:1-4).
Phras.:“blessed are the merciful”; “the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing”; “to trumpet” (in the sense of “boast”); “blow the trumpet at all crossroads”; “Keep as the apple of your eye.”
Lit.:William Howells, novel "Mercy".
A. S. Pushkin, “Monument”:
And for a long time I will be so kind to the people,
That I awakened good feelings with my lyre,
That in our cruel age I glorified freedom
And he called for mercy for the fallen.
Then, so that you do not think that the Lord reproaches those who are called, calling them sick, see how He again softens His words when, in rebuking the Pharisees, He says: Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice..
He said this in order to reproach them for ignorance of the Scriptures, and used a stern word not because He Himself was angry with the Pharisees, but to lead the tax collectors out of doubt. He could have said: or do you not know how I forgave the sins of the paralytic? How did he strengthen his body? But He does not say anything like that, but first uses general evidence, and then quotes the words of Scripture.
So, having refuted the Pharisees both by general proofs and by the testimony of Scripture, He adds further: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Savior said these words to the ridicule of the Pharisees, just as it was said: Behold, Adam has become like one of Us(Gen. 3:22); and elsewhere: If I were hungry, I would not tell you(Ps. 49:12) . And that there was not a single righteous person on earth, Paul clearly testifies to this, saying: Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God(Rom. 3:23)
On the other hand, the words of Christ served as consolation for those who were called - He seemed to say this: I not only do not disdain sinners, but I came for them alone. And in order not to make them careless, for this purpose, having said: , he did not stop at these words, but added: to repentance, - that is, I came not so that sinners would remain sinners, but so that they would change and become better.
So, when Christ completely blocked the mouths of the Pharisees with evidence borrowed both from Scripture and from the ordinary order of things, and they could not say anything contrary to Him - because, accusing Him, they themselves turned out to be guilty and opponents of the Old Testament law - then, leaving Him, they start blaming the students again.
Evangelist Luke says that they were accused by the Pharisees (Luke 5:17), and Matthew attributes this to the disciples of John. But it is likely that both of them accused the disciples of Christ. One might think that the Pharisees, not knowing what to do, took John’s disciples with them, just as they later took the Herodians. Indeed, John’s disciples always envied Christ and contradicted Him, and then they only humbled themselves when John was thrown into prison; then they came to tell Jesus about this, but then they returned to their former envy. What are they saying?
Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew.
St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
Come on!- this word conveys the following thoughts: “Get away! you are unable to approach me. Your way of thinking, the mood of your spirit make it unusual for you to accept Me. You need preparation. You need to first understand, feel, acknowledge, study, confess your fall.” It's scary. Words of God I want mercy, not sacrifice explain it. These words have the following meaning: “You cannot make sacrifices: all your thoughts, feelings, actions are sealed, saturated with sin, combined, mixed with it; all your thoughts, feelings, actions are unworthy of the all-holy God, cannot be favorable to Him. And therefore God declares to you that He not only does not require sacrifices from you, but also does not deign that you should make them. Know the depth of your fall; recognize the cruelty of your damage, completely reject trust in yourself; feel compassion for yourself, which you do not have only because of your conceit, self-delusion, bitterness, and blindness! Acquire mercy: combine your action regarding you with the action of God; Contribute with your action to the action of God. Hardened hearts, soften! Have mercy on yourself and on all humanity: you, like all people without exception, are creatures rejected by the Creator for arbitrarily rejecting the Creator, unhappy creatures, reptiles, restless, suffering on earth, in this threshold of hell; creatures constantly multiplying on the earth, constantly reaped by death, devoured by the earth; creatures cast down to earth from paradise for rebelling in paradise against God.
Here the Pharisees are called righteous not because they were exactly righteous, but because they themselves recognized themselves as such, fulfilling with petty precision the ritual decrees of the Law of God and trampling on its essence, which lies in the direction of the mind, heart, and entire human being - according to the will of God .
Ascetic sermon.
Blzh. Hieronymus of Stridonsky
Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
go learn what it means
They saw that the publican, who turned to something better, found a means to repentance and therefore they themselves do not despair of salvation and, not remaining in their former vices, come to Jesus, so that the scribes and Pharisees grumble, but committing repentance, as the following shows the word of the Lord which says:
“I want mercy, not sacrifice”? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
The Lord went to the feasts of sinners in order to have an opportunity to teach and to serve spiritual foods to those who invited Him. Then, when it is repeatedly said that He spent time at feasts, it only says what He did there and what He taught, so that both the humility of the Lord in going to sinners and the powerful effect of His teaching in converting the repentant are shown. The next words are: I want mercy, not sacrifice(Hos. 6:6) and: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, - in which the testimony of the prophet is given, - serve to reproach the scribes and Pharisees, who, considering themselves righteous, rejected communication with tax collectors and sinners.
Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew.
Blzh. Theophylact of Bulgaria
Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
Evfimy Zigaben
As you go, you will learn what it is: I want mercy, and not sacrifice? I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
As you go, you will learn what it is: I want mercy, not sacrifice.
He reproaches them for their ignorance of the Scriptures and humbles their pride because they were proud of their sacrifices. These words mean: I do not do anything contrary to Divine Scripture. God speaking through the prophet: I want mercy, not sacrifice(Hos. 6:6), showed that mercy is better than sacrifice; Therefore, I, showing mercy to those sick with sins, visit them like a doctor - I rotate among them and heal in every way.
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
I did not come to convert (to the path of truth) the righteous, because they themselves are sufficient for salvation; but I declare: I came only for the sake of sinners in need of repentance; How then will I abhor those for whom I came? And Chrysostom says that Christ said this with reproach: I have not come to call the righteous what kind of person do you think you are...
Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew.
Lopukhin A.P.
Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
Trinity leaves
Go and learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice? For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
Go to their synagogues, where they always read and explain the Law and the Prophets, learn if you haven't learned yet, What means which my Father said through the prophet Hosea: I want mercy, not sacrifice? Learn what mercy means, especially spiritual mercy; know that mercy towards sinners is more pleasing to God than any sacrifice. God does not need your sacrifices if you refuse mercy to your neighbor. Deeds of mercy, in themselves, are the best sacrifice to God, which will be remembered at the Last Judgment of God more than any sacrifice. As for Me, as the Savior continued, I not only do not abhor sinners, but it is for them that I came: For I did not come to call the righteous, such imaginary righteous people as you, but sinners, brokenhearted and humble in spirit sinners I have come to call to repentance. I came, says the Savior, not so that sinners would remain sinners, but so that they would change and become better. And for you, while you consider yourself righteous, salvation is impossible, because your proud heart is unable to listen to the voice of My grace, calling for salvation. What a formidable warning the Lord gives to all of us in this answer to the Pharisees! Let's look around: isn't there in us a Pharisee's disdain for the weaknesses of our neighbor, and isn't this self-seductive thing lurking in us at the very bottom of our souls: I'm not, like other people, I'm not yet such a desperate sinner as that man?.. If there is at least the shadow of such a thought in our hearts, then the Kingdom of God, proclaimed by Christ, is far from us...
Trinity leaves. No. 801-1050.
1. Do you give alms?
2. Have you accepted charitable help yourself? And how did you feel?
Frankly speaking, I was surprised that many of those to whom we asked these questions were literally offended: “Is it possible to ask such a thing!? Is it right to advertise your good deeds!?” As if there is something to advertise! You might think that before us were Teresa’s second mothers, they are so active in helping people and at the same time prefer to remain proudly silent.
That's right - proud, because you can, of course, keep silent about your good deeds, you can fool the people (as sectarians do) with quotes from the Holy Scriptures, only we know that the letter and the Spirit do not always coincide. Is it true? And mercy can be false, and humility... How often do we hide our inability for genuine action behind imaginary virtues!
Therefore, the editors are grateful to everyone who, without false modesty, in simplicity of heart, sincerely and honestly answered the questions, without fear of admitting their weaknesses or being accused of “un-Christian” behavior.
Svetlana Esina, graduated from the University of Control Systems and Radio Electronics, chanter at the Nativity Church in Aikhal. 1. I serve, but not to everyone. It happens that you are in a hurry somewhere, not thinking about anything, and suddenly a woman appears in front of you, who barely noticeably extends her hand, awkwardly and embarrassed. How to get past? It is clear that extreme need put this man on the street.
People who engage in begging as a business have an arrogant nature, and no matter how they try to seem pathetic, many have it written on their faces: I just don’t want to work. They get right in your face, trying to shake money out of you, and if you pass by and don’t give it (although you still have to manage to do this), they’ll send you a bunch of curses after you.
Of course, there are different cases, sometimes you serve and don’t know if you did the right thing, but what if he drinks? One day I was leaving the temple, and three gypsy children approached me. I am distrustful of gypsies, I think they will start begging now... I was about to leave, but decided to ask what they wanted. And the kids asked to eat. I bought them some food and they ate so greedily, they were so grateful. It seems to me that God tells through his heart who and when to give it to!
2. I accepted help, and probably every person has had this happen at least once. After all, you don’t have to stand on the street with your hand outstretched; anything can happen in life! I didn't need food or clothing. But there were situations when God sent helpers in difficult times. Moreover, people often helped me from whom I did not expect them at all. This gave rise to a feeling of enormous gratitude, especially to God. At such moments, the hand of the Lord is clearly felt, the words from the Gospel are remembered that God knows the need of every person and that He will be with us until the end of the age.
Alexander Kravets, teacher at the Yakut Theological School.
1. Yes, I give alms. But, unfortunately, not as often as we would like. Sometimes I just walk past the person asking, as if he doesn’t exist. Apparently, I have too little love and compassion for people.
On the other hand, when you give, it is very important not to become proud, not to extol yourself: look, I’m so good - I even help the poor and needy! Otherwise there will be no benefit for our soul. Christ taught how to give alms: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand gives.” This is real Christian virtue. But how hard it is to implement this in your life!
2. There have been times when I had to accept charitable help. At the same time, I experienced a double feeling: on the one hand, I was grateful to the people who helped me, on the other, I felt awkward. It's unpleasant to feel needy. I have noticed that most people prefer to be patrons or benefactors rather than beggars.
Karina (Sofia) Leontyeva, 2nd year student at the Institute of Finance and Economics.
1. Do I give alms? Sometimes. I remember how once as a child I saw a man asking at the door of a store who looked somewhat like my grandfather, and also wore glasses. Mom gave him some money. And I cried the whole way on the bus, remembering him.
If some grandmother or elderly person asks for alms, I try to give. Although some priests say that those standing at the gates of the temple should not. Besides, we students are not such a rich people.
2. As a child, I received charitable help many times - both from relatives and from believing friends. They still help now. My mother and I have always been very grateful to everyone.
And also, when a person does a good deed for me, then someday I want to help him too. “Now,” I think, “I’ll graduate from college, become a big man and do good deeds for them.”
Larisa Abzaletdinova, engineer at the Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy named after. SOUTH. Shafer of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
1. Yes, I do. To everyone who asks - both the homeless at Tuymaada and the beggars at the church. Not always, however: it all depends on your mood and your own funds, when you don’t have the last 10 rubles in your pocket.
I serve it out of pity, probably. Even if the person is clearly collecting on the bottle. The ways of the Lord are inscrutable, who knows... In general, this is a controversial issue - to each his own, but I do not undertake to condemn others. To submit or not to submit, to ask or not to ask is everyone’s personal choice.
2. Friends gave things to their son when he was little. Parents sent parcels from home. I didn’t receive charity on a particularly large scale, but on a small scale it was very nice, and I always received it with gratitude.
Sardana Vasilyeva, engineer at the Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy named after. SOUTH. Shafer of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
1. Yes, I give alms, but mainly to the elderly. It’s a pity for them, they didn’t come out to ask for a good life. And even those who raise money for the church. I usually don’t serve it to young men, only sometimes to the sick, and rarely to the homeless. Depends on whether I have change in my pocket.
At Detsky Mir we usually put money in a box for children from orphanages; I instruct my daughter to put it there - I teach her to help those in need. We give away children's things.
2. Strangers - no, only relatives - brother, sister and friends - helped. I only felt gratitude! There was no feeling of shame, because they were family. Maybe if a stranger offered help, I would only take it if absolutely necessary.
Sergey Vyshkvarok, engineer at Sakhatelecom OJSC.
1. I don’t give (probably it’s impossible to call it alms) to beggars, drunk homeless people who beg. And sometimes grandmothers ask, for whom the pension is clearly not enough. It looks like a man. Of course, I can’t help but give it to such people. But even then not always, to be honest.
Once there was a case: a decently dressed woman at the store asked for money for the trip, 10 rubles was not enough, with a transfer, they say, food. I go to a nearby store, and there she asks for directions. And she quickly hid the beer she bought. “And what,” I say, “will you travel far on beer, many transfers?” Well, how to serve it like that?
2. They helped me. Not often, as needed. Parents often help with money and food and sit with the child.
Irina Shakhmatova, teacher at the Yakut Theological School.
1. In the literal sense of the word - no. It seems to me that creativity must take place in the virtue of mercy. You can give or give something away under the pretext that you don’t need it, but in such a way that the other person to whom you give it needs your gift. It is difficult to do this; you need to pay attention to the needs of others.
The same applies to spiritual alms: to listen and help. To truly support and advise, you need to have inner self-denial. Then this is virtue and work for the sake of God and neighbor.
2. No - again, in the literal sense. In spiritual terms, quite often I felt enormous gratitude to the giver and I still feel it.
Sargylana Kobyakova, teacher of higher mathematics at the Branch of the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television in Yakutsk.
1. No, I don’t. Sometimes you see a child and give him a chocolate bar, an apple or something else, but never money. In our city, especially near the Tuymaada store, there are a lot of unsightly people begging for alms. This immediately begs the question: what do they need money for – for vodka? If I knew for sure that they would buy bread or feed the child, then I would give it. And giving drinks to men who don’t want to work is not in my rules.
Maybe I’m a pragmatic person, but when you give alms, you think: what will they spend it on? Nowadays life is such that people pay attention only to those who are nearby, and help those they know and sympathize with. If they ask me for help, of course, I don’t refuse. Perhaps there are times when I do not notice, due to my inattention, that someone needs my help.
2. Many people helped me. Apparently, I am a happy person, people around me are very responsive. It happened in my life that we, like many young families, were solving the housing problem, and probably not enough pages to list everyone who supported us then, not only material, but also psychological. I felt grateful.
Archpriest Mikhail PAVLOV, cleric of the St. Nicholas Church in Yakutsk, head of the department for interaction with the armed forces and law enforcement agencies.
1. I serve. Mainly for a hangover. Unfortunately, we have such charity now. There are almost no people who come from need. For example, homeless people and former convicts come to our church, for whom I have a special mug. And I distribute this alms to them, although I know that most of it will go to the wrong things. So what to do? Tell a person “Get out of here!” I can't. I repeat once again: people very rarely come out of real need. And more often they send children. But this is not good. It’s better to come on your own if there is nothing to eat. We will never refuse products.
2. I had to accept help more than once. And at such moments I always felt that the Lord was not abandoning me and my family. If it weren’t for God and the believers, we would live much worse materially. And so – the Lord gives everything we need through people.
There were times when we were going on vacation with our family, on vacation, and there was nothing to buy tickets for. To take four children out, you need more than a hundred thousand for one road. And every year the Lord sends good people to help us. Isn't this almsgiving? I feel, of course, great gratitude. And I always pray for our benefactors and remember them at the liturgy.
But I don’t only accept help for myself. Often people donate for the temple, for repairs, for the icon, for the prisoners. Of course, I transfer this money to the abbot, and he spends it for its intended purpose. It is a sin to accept these targeted donations for yourself. Before the Easter holiday, I appeal to our regular benefactors who buy eggs to give them to prisoners and military units.
Sometimes they just give money to buy what those who are serving time need. Recently we received a donation for the bell tower. I collected more than 100 thousand, bought bells for the temple, which was built in the Tabagin colony. Part of the funds was earned from the sale of candles that prisoners cast, and part from donations from philanthropists.
Priest Sergius Klintsov, rector of the Transfiguration Church, head of the missionary department of the Yakut diocese.
1. It would be unnatural if the priest, who teaches people to be merciful, to fulfill the words of Christ: “I want mercy, not sacrifice,” would not give it himself. I’m not saying this to brag – there’s nothing special to boast about. I am constantly accompanied by questions: do I donate a lot or a little, is it worth giving money to this or that person? What if you are being deceived?
I don’t know how parishioners give alms. Except for those cases when, leaving the temple, they sometimes shove their last pennies to the so-called “dispossessed” - parasites and drunkards who do not want to work and stand with their hands outstretched, knowing that they will “earn” much more on the porch than with a broom in hand. Does the Lord accept such alms as alms? Not sure.
There are many people around who really need our mercy, but they will probably never openly beg... They will modestly wait for one of us to notice their need and help. It happens, however, rarely: those who come to the temple turn to the priest with requests because there is nowhere else to go. Naturally, you find out the circumstances, if possible, help somewhere from your personal funds, somewhere the social department gets involved.
I, like many, are probably convicted by the Gospel reading about the Good Samaritan. Answering a lawyer’s question about who is a neighbor who must be loved, Christ told a parable: “A certain man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho and was caught by robbers, who took off his clothes, wounded him and left, leaving him barely alive. By chance, a priest was walking along that road and, seeing him, passed by. Likewise, the Levite, being at that place, came up, looked and passed by. A Samaritan, passing by, found him and, seeing him, took pity and, coming up, bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine; and, setting him on his donkey, brought him to the inn and took care of him; and the next day, as he was leaving, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said to him: take care of him; and if you spend anything more, when I return, I will give it back to you. Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the one who fell among the robbers? He said: He showed him mercy. Then Jesus said to him: Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-37).
And every time you realize that the service will now end and a sermon will have to be preached, you think: “Am I myself diligent enough to help my neighbor?” It happens that after this you hear reproaches in church: “Well, why don’t you give? They just called for mercy...” But where is the line – to give or not to give? I don’t know... A modest person would never say such a thing, but should arrogance be encouraged? You try to think about the main thing: the Lord sees with what heart you sacrifice - either in order to be left behind, or in order to help the person in some way.
2. Sometimes help is addressed to me personally, and sometimes to the parish in my person. People, thank God, help both the temple and the priest’s family. Everything is accepted with gratitude, because from these donations the priest gets the opportunity to help others. We have many examples both in history and in modern life when priests try to act like St. John of Kronstadt, who took with one hand and with the other hand gave this charitable assistance to those who needed it.
Of course, we are far from the holy righteous, but we have something to strive for. Sometimes you feel that you are unworthy of help, but in any case you are grateful to the person, you always try to pray for him and for his family.
The temple is maintained and lives on donations. Every parishioner is a benefactor, be it a grandmother who bought a candle for 10 rubles, be it a wealthy person who buys 10 candles and put a certain amount in a donation mug, be it a person in power who controls large resources and can help resolve serious issues temple. We have a lot of needs, from small things (cleaning, equipment) to a car.
Some people think that both the temple and the priests bathe in luxury, drive jeeps... If only! We now have an old Zhiguli in our church. But a car has long been no longer a luxury, but a means of transportation, and for any priest this is true. For the same services (funeral service, confession, Communion, unction at home), especially in winter, how to get there?
And then, the parish of the Transfiguration Cathedral conducts active missionary activities. Almost all of our priests constantly travel on business trips. Now it is in nearby settlements that the desire and interest in the Orthodox faith is growing. In order to respond to the call of people, you don’t need to fly on a plane or sail on a ship, you just need to get into a car that can move along our roads and come.
Pokrovsk, Mokhsogolloh - there have been parishes there for a long time, but Churapchinsky ulus, Nizhny Bestyakh, Amga, Ust-Tatta, Ust-Maya, the same Khatassy and Oktyomtsy... These areas are now very drawn to Orthodoxy, to spirituality, and there is a need for a priest visit them. But as? If the Zhiguli car's wheels fall off today or tomorrow. Having a missionary car is not a luxury for us, but an urgent necessity.
Prepared by Elena BONDAR
and Marina GORINOVA
XXVI. "I want mercy, not sacrifice" Matthew 9:13
Those. not external observance before Me of the form of My law, but internal fulfillment of its spirit as applied to people.
External sacrifice is only a symbol of internal sacrifice, and without the latter it is an abomination to God (Isa. Ch. 1).
Our outer truth must be a revelation of the inner light, because God wants the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6).
For us Christians, this moral instruction of the Lord has a more subtle application. For us, love and compassion for our neighbors have already become a law, obvious to everyone. Although there are still a lot of Christians who believe their righteousness only in the external fulfillment of the laws of worship of God; but this is only a misunderstanding, and in the depths of their own conscience they find a vague reproach for their deceit before God. But there is another class of people among the followers of Christ who violate the rule we are considering more subtly and therefore more dangerously. These are people who have made for themselves, from the moral law of love for one’s neighbor, an external law, similar to the ancient law of sacrifices and burnt offerings. They believe the fulfillment of the law of love in external good deeds, in material sacrifices of charity, without the participation of the internal fire of love for those to whom they do good, without that mercy of the heart, without which our sacrifice is an abomination before God.
To these, the words of the Lord: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” also have their full application. And they especially require attention at the present time. God cannot be content with our making only external sacrifices of charity. He does not want sacrifice, but mercy, that is, an internal loving attitude towards one’s neighbor, wise responsiveness to the hidden causes of his disasters and preventing them, and not only external material beneficence, which does not heal internal illness, but only temporarily alleviates it, and gives extra a reason for us to be proud of our imaginary righteousness in fulfilling Christ’s law - love...
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From the book 1115 questions to a priest author section of the website OrthodoxyRuWhat do the words “I want mercy, not sacrifice” mean? Priest Afanasy Gumerov, resident of the Sretensky Monastery “Go, learn what it means: I want mercy, not sacrifice?” (Matt. 9:12–13). Our Lord Jesus Christ quotes these words from the book of the prophet Hosea: “For I desire mercy, and not
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From the book The Last Exam by the author From the book Reincarnation. Reflections authorI want to live While walking in the forest, I noticed two large puddles. One was full of water and life was boiling in it. Many tiny frolicking living creatures enjoyed the carefree life that fate had prepared for them. But the weather was hot, and the second puddle was almost completely
From the book The Explanatory Bible. Volume 9 author Lopukhin Alexander11. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples: Why does your Teacher eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 12. When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13. Go, learn what it means: I want mercy, and not sacrifice?” For I came not to call
From the book The Last Exam author Khakimov Alexander Gennadievich7. if you knew what it means: I want mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. Further and independent proof of the correctness of Christ’s behavior, who did not forbid the disciples to pluck ears of grain, and the erroneousness of the opinion of the Pharisees, which has a close connection with the previous one
From the book Evidence of the Existence of Hell. Testimonies of survivors author Fomin Alexey V.13. He answered and said to one of them: friend! I don't offend you; Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14. Take what is yours and go; I want to give this last one the same as I gave you; 15. Don’t I have the power to do what I want? Or is your eye envious because I am kind? 16. So they will
From the author's bookI want to go home! Sridam Prabhu, the senior pujari of our temple, passed away from this life so quickly and unexpectedly for everyone. When I found out about this, the first thought that came to my mind was: “How come, he was the most alive?” And this whole story seemed like an absurd invention of some evil
From the author's book“I don’t want to die!!!” It would be the greatest mistake to think that a person’s life ends after his death. "How is it?" - you ask. Here, a man lies, does not breathe, his heart does not beat. Died. There was a man - and he is not. And indeed, who can detect life or signs
It was 2003, when, with the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir, after an 80-year break, under the arches of the hospital church in the name of St. Evgenia, the words of prayer were heard again, the intimate whisper of those confessing and the kind, gentle voice of Father Valerian ZHIRYAKOV, the rector of the church, was heard saying a prayer of permission . And although we agreed on the meeting in advance, I had to wait, because after the evening service the priest carefully listened to his charges - the old women who lived through the siege - delving into all their needs and concerns. And after confession, smiling, he sweepingly crossed his bowed gray head, absolving sins in the name of Jesus Christ. Having escorted the last confessor to the threshold of the church, Father Valerian warned: “I don’t have much time. At nine o’clock I will go through the wards to confess those who do not have the strength to get to the temple.” So, you are welcome to the Church of St. Eugenia.
The history of this church and the community of St. Eugenia began with mercy. It was the end of the 19th century. A kind man once talked with a beggar woman and learned that she was a sister of mercy in the Russian-Turkish War. The heart of this man, whose name the Lord knows, trembled... and in 1882, the Committee for the Care of the Sisters of the Red Cross appeared in St. Petersburg. And subsequently, from this committee, the community of St. Eugenia, known throughout Russia for its charitable activities and works of mercy, grew. But, as they say, the fairy tale is soon told, but the deed is not soon done. First, in 1883, a dormitory was built for 12 sisters of mercy. Three years later, two-year preparatory courses for sisters of mercy were opened under him, and only two years later a small hospital for incoming patients was opened. In 1887, the granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I, Eugene of Oldenburg, took the committee under its patronage. And on January 7, 1893, the dormitory of the Sisters of Charity was renamed the community of St. Eugenia. As time passed, the community grew. Finally, the question arose about building our own hospital, which was built on the corner of Starorusskaya and Novgorodskaya streets. On the lower floor there was a shelter for elderly sisters of mercy named after Emperor Alexander III, on the second floor there was a church for 4000 people in the name of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky and St. Primts. Eugenia and a dormitory for the sisters of the community.
The heroic workdays began. Sisters of mercy who completed a two-year course worked in hospitals, infirmaries of cadet corps, and were on duty in private homes and various hospitals in St. Petersburg and the provinces. What is heroic here, you ask. And it must be said that in 1893-1894 the sisters worked in the Tula, Tver and Voronezh provinces, where a typhoid epidemic was raging... And that’s not all. In 1898-1899, the sisters of the community were called upon to provide assistance in the provinces affected by crop failure - Samara and Ufa. A detachment of sisters was sent to Manchuria. Sisters of mercy also took part in the Russo-Japanese War, and later in the First World War.
But all this was forgotten after 1917. The new government tried to erase the very concept of Christian charity from people's memory. And so the hospital of St. Eugenia turned into a “Sverdlovka” - a medical institution for the treatment of the highest city party activists. During the Great Patriotic War, the hospital was set up to treat officers of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. And in the 1990s, the hospital became an ordinary city hospital No. 46...
Thank God, in our time, good traditions are being revived at St. Eugenia's Hospital. In the “Center for Medical Care to Residents of Siege Leningrad”, created here on the initiative of the head physician O. Semyonova, thousands of people who survived the siege and have suffered a lot in their lifetime are being treated. Scientific work is being carried out at the hospital: scientists are studying the impact of extreme factors - cold, hunger - on the human body during the blockade and in the long term, as well as their impact on subsequent generations.
In 2000, the hospital’s holy name was returned, and the chapel of St. Eugenia was built in the main building. By the way, it is symbolic that the first consecration of the hospital church took place on the day of memory of St. Equal Apostle Nina on January 27, 1900, on the same day in 1944 the blockade of Leningrad was lifted. Nowadays prayer services are held in the church, the Sacraments of confession, baptism, and unction are performed. In 2000, the parish was replenished with graduates of the Sunday School of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. With their arrival, the Relief Society is working again in the hospital, whose sisters and brothers provide all possible assistance to the sick.
St. Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote: “At the Judgment of Christ, mercy will be required for justification as an active expression of love, and mercy alone deserves mercy as an experimental proof of love. “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9.13), announced the coming terrible and impartial Judge "Mercy will bring justification to those who love it, and will condemn those who reject it. Mercy will bring all its workers before Christ and will obtain for them pardon and eternal bliss from Christ." Remember this and do not skimp on acts of mercy.
Address: 193144 St. Petersburg, Starorusskaya st., 3. Tel. 274-19-90
Retold by Irina NIKOLAEVA
Http://pravpiter.ru/pspb/n194/ta005.htm
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